Apparatus for controlling the condition of closed receptacles.



APPARATUS FOR GONTROLLI E. B. SMITH. NG THE CONDITION APPLICATION FILEDOUT. 3,

OF CLOSED REGEPTACLES. 1910.

Patented Jan. 9. 1912.

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s ATES EDWIN B. SMITH, OF FREMONT, OHIO.

APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE Specification of Letters Patent.

CONDITION OF CLOSED REGEPTACLES.

Application filed October 3, 1910. Serial No. 584,990.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN B. SMITH, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fremont, county ofSandusky, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Apparatus for Controlling the" Condition of Closed Receptacles, ofwhich the following is a specification, the principle of the inventionbeing herein explained and the best mode in which I have contemplatedapplying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

It has become more or less general, instead of burying dead bodiesunderground, to provide a mausoleum in which are constructed any numberof separate vaults. The bodies are placed in these vaults and each vaultis separately and hermetically sealed.

The present invention provides ap aratus for utilizing that method,whereby h e conditions within the vault may be controlled after it hasbeen sealed vithout again opening the vault.

To the accomplishment of these and related ends, said invention, then,consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims.

The annexed drawing and the following description set forth in detailcertain mecha nism embodying my invention, such disclosed meansconstituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which theprinciple of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings :-Figure 1 is axbroken side elevation, more orless diagrammatic, of a-vault equipped with my mproved apparatus; Fig. 2is a vertical section of a check valve employed in the apparatus.

The separate vaults or receptacles may or may not be built in amausoleum, but the installation will usually be eniplo ed in connectionwith each of a plurality o vaults or receptacles constructed in amausoleum. Since each vault will betreated as a unit, however, I haveindicated but one vault or receptacle 1 with its two adjacent vaults. I

At a convenient place near the vaultI connected with the vault nearprovide a pump of any suitable type.

The pump 2 is fitted with a piston 23 in which are placed the usualvalves 24 which lie on the side of the piston opposite the inlet butseat toward the inlet. The pump 2 is shown as a force pump connected toan Patented Jan. 2, 31912.

inlet pipe, but obviously a suction pump in the return pipe will be justas effective. I furthermore provide at a convenient location a tank 3into which depends a partition 4 reaching almost to the bottom of thetank, the partition itself being provided near its bottom with anopening 5. The only opening inthe tank is tightly closed by means of aplug 6. A pipe 7 leads from the outlet side of the pump 2 into the tank3 and is provided with a suitable valve 8. A pipe 9 extends froni thetank 3 through the Wall of the vault 1 and is provided with a hand valve10. The pipe 9 and other pipes which enter the vault 1, hereinafterreferred to, are designed to be builtinto the vault when the latter isconstructed so that after the vault is sealed it is absolutely closed,except for the openings through the pipes. An automatic check valve 11is disposed in the pipe 9 and opens toward the vault 1. The check valve11 and the valves 15 and 1S hereafter referred to are detailed in Fig.2, and comprise a casing 25 provided with an inclined valve seat 26, apivoted valve 27 seating thereon, and a removable cap 28. A pipe 12connects pipes 7 and 9 around the tank 3 so that it forms a bypassaround the tank, the pipe 12 being pro vided with a valve-controlledbranch pipe 22 and with a hand valve 13. A pipe 1 1 with a valve. 21extends from the vault 1 to the inlet side of the pump 2 and is providedwith an automatic check valve 15 opening away from the vault 1. A pipe16, haying any desired outer connection, is also con nected with theinlet side of the 1 to a suitable place of safety and is provided withan automatic check valve 18 opening away from the vault. A pipe 19 isthe bottom "thereof and leads to any desired place of pump 2. Stillanother pipe 17 extends from'the vault safety, pipe 19 being providedwith a hand valve 20.

In the operation of the illustrative apparatus herein described, thepump will be suitably supplied with any pressure-fluid. Anygivensubstance which it is desired to admit into the vault will beplaced in the receptacle 3 through the opening therein, and as the fluidis forced by the pump into the tank, the substance therein willimpregnate the fluid, being thoroughly mixed by the currents induced inthe tank by the par tition. This mixture will then be forced from thetank to the vault, and the check valve in the pipe 9 will automaticallybe forced open to admit the mixture into the vault. The current of themixture will continue from the vault through the pipe 14, and the checkvalve therein will automatically open to permit such egress. The mixtureis then led to the in et side of the pump where it begins its circuitover again. This circulation will be maintained for any desired lengthof time, whereupon the pump will be stopped and the valves 11 and 15will automatically close air tight so that the vault will be justaseifectually sealed as if the pipes were not connected therewith. If,at any time it is not desired to utilize the tank 3, the pipes leadinginto and from the tank may be closed by their valves and the by-passvalve opened so that the circuit will still be complete, but will notinclude the tank. In such case, any desired substance may beintroducedinto the circuit through pipe 22. If it is not desirable to force acirculation through the vault, the pipe 1a may be cut out, and pipe 16connected, so that the vault maybe merely blown out, or a substance maybe thus forced into the vault through pipe 22 and allowed to remainthere for a time. If the generation of gas within the vault, or thepressure exerted by the pump through the circuit, creates excessivepressure within the vault, the excess will automatically open the valve18 and the excess of the gas or liquid, as the case may be, will passofi through the pipe 17 to any suitable trap or other place of safety.When it is desired to drain the vault of any liquids therein, it may bedone through the pipe 19.

The apparatus described herein, therefore, provides means by which aburial vault may be normally maintained with an air tight closure andyet allow the freest circulation therethrough of any substances whichwill modify or control the chemical or sanitary conditions within thevault.

Although for the purposes of illustration I have shown the apparatuspermanently installed in connection with the vault, I do not mean tolimit myself to such an installation. It is contemplated that theseveral vaults constructed in a mausoleuinwill have permanentlyconnected with them the separate pipes including the check valves. Theremainder of the apparatus, however, will preferably be mounted upon atruck so that it may be readily moved to a position near any given vaultand the desired connections there made with the pipes permanentlyinstalled in the vault.

Broadly speaking, therefore, my invention provides for treating the deadbody after it is hermetically sealed, and for purifying and modifyingthe conditions surrounding it without exposure, and with safety to theliving.

My invention will also be found useful in testing crypt construction andin locating the defects or leakages, if any, before or after theplacement of the body therein, and foreleaning pipes thereto connected.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanismherein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the followingclaims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

1 therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention 1. In apparatus for controlling the condition of closedreceptacles, the combination of a closed conduit circuit including areceptacle and a pump, and means normally closing the conduit adjacentthe points at which the receptacle is connected in the circuit, saidmeans being adapted to be opened by fluid pressure upon the operation01. said pump.

2. In apparatus for controlling the condition of closed receptacles, thecombination with a closed receptacle, of a closed tank, a first pipeleading into said tank, a second pipe leading from said tank to saidreceptacle, a third pipe leading from said receptacle, a pump connectedwith said first and third pipes, and valves disposed in the sec- 0nd andthird pipes, said valves being normally closed and being adapted to openon operation of said pump.

3. In apparatus for controlling the condition of closed receptacles, thecombination with a closed receptacle, of .a closed tank, a first pipeleading into said tank, a second pipe leading from said tank, to saidreceptacle, a third pipe leading from said receptacle, a pump connectedwith said first and third pipes, valves disposed in the second and thirdpipes, sald valves being normally closed and being adapted to open onopera-- tion of said pump, and a plpe connected with said first andsecond pipes and arranged to form a by-pass around said tank.

4. In apparatus for controlling the condition of closed receptacles, thecombination with a closed receptacle, of a pump, a conchit l'eaaing fromtime outlek side 01%? said Sigmd by me, this 29 ciay 0;? Septemlbexypuglp t3 said. recepmcie, a chick-valve in M10. sai co'n' uitQ enintoward sai ICEEE me a, 1 m "1" a second con uit le ading framsaid ecap-EDWIN 15 male to film inlet sidm of saii plmap, and a, Attastedbycheckwmiva in said second mew-a owning MARGARET HUNT, from saidreceptacle. HARRY GARN.

